Bookman and I have a date with TurboTax this evening. Aren’t we wild and crazy? If not yet, we probably will be by the time we are done. Few things stress me out more than the process of filing income tax. Think good thoughts for us.
If I had had a bit more foresight, I would have put together a list of books that somehow related to paying taxes. Maybe next year.
In the meantime, in case you missed it, some of Thomas Jefferson’s books were discovered recently in the Washington University library in St. Louis. These newly rediscovered books are part of Jefferson’s “retirement library,” the collection he created after he sold his original library to the Library of Congress after the British burned Washington in 1815. The discovery of these volumes now means that about half of the 1,600 books in Jefferson’s retirement library are accounted for. Kind of exciting.
Now off I go. The Tax Man calls.
I should be out on a date with Mr Turbo Tax myself. But I’m playing hard to get.
We visit Mr Turbo Tax yesterday, but after finding we owe Fed and State lots of $$, we’re waiting to file in a few weeks….hope you do better than us.
Why did you have to mention taxes? Much more exciting about the TJ books! I wonder if they were in the circulating collection? And what will they do with them now?!
This is our first year filing taxes as homeowners. I’m afeared. We still have to wait a few more weeks because of new domestic partnership law thingies. Sigh. I’m trying not to think about it.
Good luck! Here’s hoping that it will be (relatively) pain-free .
Do you know, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Know something else? I am so glad I have no idea what you’re talking about! Don’t get stressed.
Same here Annie. We lived in the USA twice – for 2 years in the 80s and 3 years in the 90s. The whole tax filing due date – April 15 I think – is such a huge thing over there. Everyone knows about it and gears up for it. We pay tax here of course. Our year ends on June 30 and you are supposed to get your return in by some date – not quite sure what that is (LOL) – but there’s no big bugaboo that everyone focuses on like there is in the US. (Of course, I’m lucky in that Mr Gums does his return, my return and his mum’s return and very promptly. We usually have our assessment back before most of our friends get theirs in. So perhaps I’m not one to talk!)
Anyhow, hope all went well with Turbo Tax Stefanie.
How did your TaxTime Date go?
This will be the first year that I myself [actually myself and my best friend, who shall coach me through the process, having done it before] will use the online tax-filing system. Otherwise it costs me something like $70 to get it prepared by a professional. My friend buys the program and gets an “extra” sort of BONUS filing privilege, so, this year — all it will cost me is a few beers! [It's probably advisable to drink these after we have done the complicated filing though.... right?]
Ugh. I hate filing taxes. We keep putting it off, but have to sit down and carve out some hours to do it too…
Lol! Hope the date didn’t turn out too wild and crazy! And hope you had laid in the treats and rewards for afterwards – there must be treats and rewards for the worst jobs, it’s a principle of the universe.
We were supposed to do that this weekend too but put it off. Ugh. Now I’m going to have to attack those piles during the week.
Hope you are done with that!
softdrink, oh you sly one, you!
Diane, having to pay is never fun. Hope it isn’t a lot!
Danielle, I don’t think the books were in the circulating collection. They were found in the Joseph Coolidge collection. He was married to one of Jefferson’s granddaughters and bought part of Tj’s retirement collection when TJ died. Apparently no one has ever paid much attention to the collection once it made it to the university!
Daphne, it isn’t such a scary thing though it is no longer EZ. Good luck!
Polaris, thanks! It had a happy ending.
Annie, as Whisperinggums says, our i ncome taxes for the previous year are due by April 15th. the tax forms and system is so hugely convoluted that filing the annual paperwork is a big pain in the backside and people make a big deal about it. Part of the problem is you never know whether you’re going to have to pay more taxes, got your paycheck deductions right, or might get a refund for overpaying. Sometimes it feels like playing the lottery!
Whisperinggums, oh to live somewhere where taxes aren’t a big deal! Our date went well and now everything is filed and we have nothing to worry about until this time next year.
Cipriano, online filing is pretty easy, at least with the software we use. It walks us through it all step-by-step. Much less painful than filling it out on paper or forking over the cash to the tax preparer. I hope your tax filing goes well! The taxman was kind to us this year.
Jeane, yeah, in the past we have waited until the very last minute and it was so stressful that the last few years we have gotten much better at doing it early and getting it out of the way. Good luck with yours!
Litlove, it turns out we overpaid so will be getting a refund. There might be some wild and crazy book shopping in the future
Iliana, we generally procrastinate at least a few weeks once we decide we will get around to the whole thing but this year we just did it and it only took an hour and a half and now we don’t have to worry about it anymore. Good luck with yours!
Glad it went well. It is a big thing here in the sense that it has to be done and Tax Agent advertising increases at a certain time of year but that’s about it in terms of public consciousness.
Well, you know, American’s have a strong dislike of taxes going all the way back to dumping tea into Boston Harbor in defiance of our British overlords
Because my only income is my pension all my tax is done for me by the inland revenue. It does mean that I don’t have to worry about it (although I do check their figures!) but it also means there is no possibility of a hefty refund that can be spent on books. That is a good idea!
Annie, nice that you don’t have to worry about filing taxes. Even though you don’t get a hefty refund, it probably also means you never have to pay any additional either. That’s happened to us a few times.
I strongly dislike the idea of doing taxes. I pay someone to do them. It is stress free!
Helen, LOL. I’m such a cheapskate I’d worry about how much it would cost me for someone else to do my taxes AND whether I was going to have to pay any extra in taxes!
And look what you get for that, the Tea Party party! Be careful what you ask for is what I say!!
Ha! You got that right!
Thanks for taking that in the friendly spirit intended! I expected you would of course; otherwise I wouldn’t have said it!
Oh Whisperinggums, you’ve got me figured out! The Tea Party is not my cup of –tea!